Method for recording measured data of a patient while taking account of movement operations, and an associated medical device

ABSTRACT

A method is disclosed for recording measured data of a patient while taking account of movement operations by way of a medical device that is designed both for recording movement-related measured data, in particular measured data of high temporal resolution and/or measured data that can be interpolated with regard to movement operations, with the aid of an imaging method and/or by means of at least one sensor element, and also for recording nuclear medicine measured data, in particular of lower temporal resolution. In at least one embodiment, the method includes recording nuclear medicine measured data with the aid of the medical device; simultaneously recording movement-related measured data with the aid of the medical device; determining at least one item of movement information relating to at least one movement operation of the patient and/or in the body of the patient by evaluating at least a portion of the recorded measured data of high temporal resolution on the part of a computing device of the medical device; and adapting at least one item of attenuation correction information available for the computing device and serving for reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data, doing so as a function of the at least one determined item of movement information.

PRIORITY STATEMENT

The present application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 onGerman patent application number DE 10 2007 034 953.1 filed Jul. 26,2007, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a method for recordingmeasured data of a patient while taking account of movement operationsby way of a medical device that is designed both for recordingmovement-related measured data, in particular measured data of hightemporal resolution and/or measured data that can be interpolated withregard to movement operations, with the aid of an imaging method and/orby way of at least one sensor element, and also for recording nuclearmedicine measured data, in particular of lower temporal resolution and acorresponding imaging medical device.

BACKGROUND

In the case of image reconstruction are used on various occasionsso-called attenuation corrections are in nuclear medicine imaging, forexample in positron emission tomography (PET). In the case of PETimaging, light quanta emitted from annihilation of a positron and anelectron in opposite directions are registered in the ideal case by adetector pair. This is done by measuring two events within a definedcoincidence interval. In this case, the probability that these two lightquanta follow their path without disturbance and largely rectilinearlydepends, inter alia, on the absorption behavior of the material locatedin the path. Strongly absorbing materials such as, for example, bones,plastic and metals lead to a reduction in the detection rate.

This means, in turn, that without correction mechanisms the emissionregions that lie “behind” absorbing regions are displayed in the imagewith an excessively low intensity (that is to say false quantification)or even in a distorted fashion (if there is an asymmetric absorptiongeometry). This is countered by the so-called attenuation correction(AC).

In the course of the attenuation correction, a spatial distribution ofthe absorption behavior is determined on the basis of models or apreceding measurement. In the simplest case, such a model can bespherical, such as, for example, in the case of head pictures. Themeasurements can be carried out with the aid of different modalities orof the nuclear medicine detectors themselves, for example with the aidof a PET detector and an additional rotating x-ray source. What isdecisive is that the measurement can be used to say how the spatialdistribution of the absorbing materials appears in the examinationregion.

In the case of combination of modalities (particularly hybridmodalities), with the aid of which both the taking of magnetic resonancetomography pictures and taking of nuclear medicine pictures arepossible, the attenuation correction or an associated attenuationcorrection map is produced by and large with the aid of magneticresonance tomography data.

However, there is a problem with the attenuation correction required forimage reconstruction that the patient and, if appropriate, furtherconstituents in the image region that are assigned to the patient or arearranged on the body of the latter or in the body of the patient canchange their position during movement operations of the patient. Duringsuch movement operations, for example, periodic movement operations suchas breathing or movement of the heart or else movements of limbs and thelike, the attenuation correction map originally made no longerreproduces the current attenuation, as a result of which errors canoccur when reconstructing the nuclear medicine images in the previouslycustomary way with the aid of the initial attenuation correction map.

SUMMARY

In at least one embodiment of the invention a method is specified thatis improved in this regard.

In at least one embodiment, there is provided a method for recordingmeasured data of a patient while taking account of movement operationsby means of a medical device that is designed both for recordingmovement-related measured data, in particular measured data of hightemporal resolution and/or measured data that can be interpolated withregard to movement operations, with the aid of an imaging method and/orby way of at least one sensor element, and also for recording nuclearmedicine measured data, in particular of lower temporal resolution,method including:

-   -   recording nuclear medicine measured data with the aid of the        medical device,    -   simultaneously recording movement-related measured data with the        aid of the medical device,    -   determining at least one item of movement information relating        to at least one movement operation of the patient and/or in the        body of the patient by evaluating at least a portion of the        recorded movement-related measured data on the part of a        computing device of the medical device, and    -   adapting at least one item of attenuation correction information        available for the computing device and serving for        reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data, doing so as a        function of the at least one determined item of movement        information.

The starting point is therefore a medical device, in particular animaging medical device, with the aid of which it is possible firstly torecord the nuclear medicine measured data, in particular PET measureddata, and secondly to record movement-related measured data of, forexample, higher temporal resolution than is possible within the scope ofthe nuclear medicine method. The movement-related measured data can alsoalternatively or complementarily be interpolated for the purpose ofdetermining movement between two movement detections. In this case, thetemporally highly resolved data need not necessarily be image data, butcan also, for example, be determined with the aid of one or more sensors(for example optically). The information of these sensors need notnecessarily be capable of being displayed as an image.

For example, an imaging medical device can be a hybrid device that forthe purpose of recording nuclear medicine measured data is also designedso as, for example, to record magnetic resonance data or computedtomography data. Supplementarily or alternatively, measured data can berecorded with the aid of one or more sensor elements in place of thepossibility of recording magnetic resonance data, computed tomographydata or ultrasound data and the like with an inventive medical device.For example, an optical or electrically operating sensor can be used inorder to detect movement operations of high temporal resolution, orusing interpolation methods.

During the nuclear medicine measurement, that is to say the PETmeasurement, for example, there is simultaneous recording, that is tosay, if appropriate, recording conducted continuously or at fixed orvarying intervals, of the movement-related measured data, for example ofthe higher temporal resolution by comparison with the nuclear medicinedata recording. These movement-related measured data, for example in theform of measured data of a higher temporal resolution, are image data orother data, and serve (if appropriate, inter alia) the purpose ofacquiring the movement of the examination object or of system componentsof the imaging device that move with the patient or because of themobility of the patient. These measured data therefore have the purpose(if appropriate, in a fashion supplementing the obtaining of otherinformation relating thereto) of obtaining at least one item of movementinformation that is in some way related to the movement of the patientor to the movement of patient-related device parts, and thus, forexample, relates to the breathing of the patient or his cardiacmovement, or to the movement of the body or of objects located on thebody or in the vicinity, such as, for example, a mobile local coil orthe like.

Finally, the movement information that has been obtained from themovement-related measured data of high temporal resolution, or byinterpolation between movement detections, serves the purpose ofadapting or correcting an item of attenuation correction information ora number of items of attenuation correction information, for example inthe form of an attenuation correction map, in order to obtain areconstruction of the nuclear medicine data starting from a “correct”(current) attenuation correction map.

The result according to at least one embodiment of the invention is thatthe attenuation correction information on which the reconstruction ofthe nuclear medicine data is based is corrected for movement such thatthe attenuation correction information is adapted to the current stateof movement of the patient or of parts of the medical device that areconnected to or associated with the movement of the patient.

The attenuation correction information to be adapted is stored in thecomputing device., for example as initial information from anattenuation correction measurement performed at the start of the datarecording.

A substantially improved nuclear medicine imaging can thereby beachieved, since the exactitude of the attenuation correction informationhas a direct influence on the nuclear medicine image quality and thequantifiability.

According to at least one embodiment of the invention, at least one itemof attenuation correction information forming a constituent of anattenuation correction map for a measured data recording range isadapted with particular advantage. In this case, a correction of theattenuation correction coefficients for the reconstruction of thenuclear medicine data by the movement correction rules from the measureddata recording method, for example of a high temporal resolution, orwith the aid of which the interpolatable data were obtained, is used inorder to suitably adapt an attenuation correction map for acorresponding examination region or recording region in the body of apatient, or for a recording region of the (imaging) medical device.Thus, there is corrected for movement an attenuation correction map thatreproduces for the recording region overall the spatial distribution ofthe absorption behavior of the tissue or of the other materials in therecording region.

At least one initial item of attenuation correction information, inparticular an initial attenuation correction map, can be determined forlater adaptation from already recorded movement-related measured data.Thus, in order for there to be present at the start of the measured datarecording attenuation correction data that permit immediate or laterreconstruction of the nuclear medicine measured data, an initial item ofattenuation correction information, usually a plurality of suchinformation items, is determined, preferably in the form of an initialattenuation correction map, to which end use is made of movement-relatedmeasured data already recorded previously, or of corresponding pictures,for example an attenuation correction map that was produced with the aidof magnetic resonance tomography data. This initial attenuationcorrection map, or the initial attenuation correction information itemsare then corrected later in the course of the inventive method, takingaccount of the determined movement information for the patient movement.

The at least one item of attenuation correction information can beadapted for a movement correction of the nuclear medicine measured databy using at least one imaging rule determined from the at least one itemof movement information. It is thereby possible to make use of imagingrules that have, in any case, possibly been determined for a generalmovement correction.

The at least one or more items of attenuation correction informationavailable to the computing device are advantageously classified asstatic or moving items of attenuation correction information, in whichcase in particular all items of attenuation correction information of anattenuation correction map are classified accordingly for a measureddata recording range. The one item of attenuation correction informationor the number of items of attenuation correction information are thusclassified as static or moving, depending on whether they relate tostatic or movable measured data recording ranges. An attenuationcorrection map is correspondingly separated into static and movablecomponents. If the attenuation correction information available to thecomputing device comes from an adaptation as a function of at least oneitem of movement information, this will relate to movable components ifan adaptation in the sense of a movement-induced variation has takenplace.

On the other hand, examples of static components to be named are onesthat are to be ascribed to the absorption by a patient table (whichusually does not move during a measurement) or cladding parts of themedical device. Movable components or items of attenuation correctioninformation relate to the patient and, in the case of a corresponding,in particular imaging, medical device, to mobile (flexible) local coilsthat may be present and which have undefined positions, as well aspatient fixings and the like.

At first, this classification is preferably performed initially, and isthen adapted as a function of the movement information that is obtainedduring the inventive measured data recording. A single determination offixed static (device-specific) components permits the adaptation of anattenuation correction map to be limited to specific regions.

In particular, this means that in the case where a classification intostatic and moving items of attenuation correction information hasalready been carried out at least once, a subsequent adaptation of atleast one item of attenuation correction information can be carried outin such a way that exclusive account is taken of such items ofattenuation correction information that have already been classified asmoving. If appropriate, however, it is also possible to take account ofspecific regions that are neighboring in an attenuation map. It isthereby possible according to the invention to correct the movablecomponents of an attenuation correction card with the aid of thesimultaneously recorded movement information so as to achieve in thisway an improvement in the nuclear medicine image quality, in particularin the event of strong movement. If only the attenuation correctioninformation classified as moving correction information is taken intoaccount, the outlay on calculation is simplified, since the staticcomponents do not require correction and so exclusive use of the movingattenuation correction information therefore does not give rise to anydisadvantageous influencing of the image quality.

For example, at least one item of attenuation correction informationrelating to absorption by a patient table and/or at least one claddingpart and/or a stationary local coil (for magnetic resonance recordings)of the medical device can be classified as static attenuation correctioninformation, and/or at least one item of attenuation correctioninformation relating to the patient and/or to a flexible local coil fora magnetic resonance data recording and/or to patient fixing can beclassified as a moving item of attenuation correction information. Thestatic attenuation correction information thus relates, for example, tothe patient table that does not move during the measured data recording(if said table is moved during the data recording, there is a need for aclassification as moving attenuation correction information) or parts ofthe cladding or other immobile parts of the imaging medical device. Suchinformation that relates directly to movable device constituents and thepatient can be classified as moving attenuation correction informationand then be taken into account in the course of an adaptation, forexample of the attenuation correction map. Examples to be mentioned arethe patient himself or specific body parts of the patient, a flexiblelocal coil that may be present for magnetic resonance pictures orpatient fixings and the like.

At least one item of movement information relating to a relativemovement of the patient in relation to a static component of the medicaldevice can be determined from the recorded movement-related measureddata (for example of high temporal resolution) and can be used to adaptthe at least one item of attenuation correction information. Account istherefore taken of how the patient moves in relation to staticcomponents in the field of view of the modality (modalities). Such adefinition of relative movements means that it is possible for thestatic position, for example of a patient couch or of another deviceconstituent, such as of (fixed) local coils with a defined position tobe suitably combined with the moving component or body part of thepatient in an attenuation correction map.

Independently thereof, the stationary elements or device constituentsfor each type of (for example imaging) medical device such as, forexample, a scanner and the like, can be defined once and then be storedin a computing device in the system.

According to at least one embodiment of the invention, magneticresonance data and/or computed tomography data and/or ultrasound dataand/or sensor data, in particular at least of an optical and/orelectrical sensor element, can be recorded as movement-related measureddata and/or positron emission tomography data and/or single photonemission computed tomography data can be recorded as temporally lesswell resolved nuclear medicine measured data. The movement-related, forexample temporally highly resolved measured data can thus, for example,be data of a rapid imaging method such as magnetic resonance tomographyor computed tomography or else ultrasound data. If appropriate, themovement information can also be determined from a combination ofmeasured data obtained with different imaging methods, for example fromfusion images from computed tomography and of an ultrasound method.Moreover, or alternatively, it is possible to use sensor elements thatsupply sensor data as measured data. In this case, the sensor data canbe optical or electrical data and the like, from which movementinformation can be obtained, for example, camera data and the like.

Alongside the PET, the nuclear medicine method can be a further nuclearmedicine method in the case of which use is made of attenuationcorrection information. If appropriate, it is also possible to use anumber of nuclear medicine methods in combination with one another inthe course of recording measured data with the aid of the (imaging)medical device.

According to at least one embodiment of the invention, in parallel withthe measured data recording a movement correction can be performed inreal time by the computing device for at least a portion of the nuclearmedicine measured data as a function of the at least one determined itemof movement information. The movement information is thus used not onlyfor correcting the attenuation correction coefficients or for adaptingthem, but likewise for a movement correction of the nuclear medicinemeasured data, particularly in real time also leading to furthercontinuous recording of measured data. This movement correction can beperformed by taking account of imaging rules for the patient movementthat have been obtained from the movement-related measured data forexample of a temporally highly resolved method. Of course, theadaptation of the attenuation correction information can likewise becombined with a movement correction that is applied not in real time,but in retrospect, for example to the stored raw data of the nuclearmedicine method. In each case, the movement information is then used notonly for adapting an attenuation correction map and the like, butlikewise for a (general) movement correction in order to improve theimage quality of the nuclear medicine pictures.

Moreover, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to a medicaldevice, for example an imaging medical device, that is designed forrecording movement-related measured data of a patient whilesimultaneously taking account of movement operations, in particularmeasured data of a high temporal resolution and/or measured data thatcan be interpolated with regard to movement operations and for recordingnuclear medicine measured data, in particular of a lower temporalresolution, and, in addition, to a computing device for determining atleast one item of movement information relating to at least one movementoperation of the patient and/or in the body of the patient, byevaluating at least a portion of the recorded movement-related measureddata, and designed for adapting at least one item of attenuationcorrection information available to the computing device and serving forreconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data as a function of theat least one item of determined movement information. In this case, the(for example imaging) medical device is designed, in particular, forcarrying out at least one embodiment of a method as outlined above.

The medical device therefore has a nuclear medicine recording devicesuch as a positron emission tomograph. In addition, the device is alsodesigned, for example, as hybrid modality for recording magneticresonance data and/or computed tomography data or ultrasound data. As asupplement or alternative to imaging methods, it is possible to providesensor elements such as optical or electrical sensors for recordingmeasured data of a high temporal resolution. These sensor elements thusserve the purpose of obtaining movement information that is determinedin supplementary or alternative fashion to magnetic resonance data andthe like.

Moreover, the medical device has a computing device that derives fromthe highly resolved data at least one movement information item that isthereupon used to adapt an item of attenuation correction information tothe current movement state of the system or of the patient. To this end,appropriate measured data processing algorithms are implemented on thecomputing device. In particular, the computing device can produce anadapted attenuation correction map that is based on the movementinformation that has currently been newly determined. The adaptation ofthe attenuation correction map therefore takes place in a fashion alsoleading to further data recording during measurement such that errorsthat may arise, in particular, in the case of strong movement areavoided in order to keep the image quality high.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages, features and details of the invention emerge withthe aid of the following drawings and from the example embodiments. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic sketch for carrying out an embodiment of theinventive method,

FIG. 2 shows an inventive imaging medical device, and

FIG. 3 shows a schematic sketch for an embodiment of the inventiveadaptation of an attenuation correction map.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings in which only some exampleembodiments are shown. Specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describingexample embodiments. The present invention, however, may be embodied inmany alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only theexample embodiments set forth herein.

Accordingly, while example embodiments of the invention are capable ofvarious modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described indetail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent tolimit example embodiments of the present invention to the particularforms disclosed. On the contrary, example embodiments are to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope ofthe invention. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout thedescription of the figures.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another. For example, a first element could be termed asecond element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a firstelement, without departing from the scope of example embodiments of thepresent invention. As used herein, the term “and/or,” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected,” or “coupled,” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected,” or “directly coupled,” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “between,” versus “directly between,” “adjacent,” versus“directly adjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,”“an,” and “the,” are intended to include the plural forms as well,unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, theterms “and/or” and “at least one of” include any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or“including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features,integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures.For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”,“upper”, and the like, may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated. in the figures. It will be understood thatthe spatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in thefigures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elementsor features. Thus, term such as “below” can encompass both anorientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented(rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relativedescriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describevarious elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, it shouldbe understood that these elements, components, regions, layers and/orsections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used onlyto distinguish one element, component, region, layer, or section fromanother region, layer, or section. Thus, a first element, component,region, layer, or section discussed below could be termed a secondelement, component, region, layer, or section without departing from theteachings of the present invention.

A schematic sketch for carrying out an embodiment of the inventivemethod is illustrated in FIG. 1. Here, according to box a nuclearmedicine measured data are recorded with the aid of an imaging medicaldevice, while in accordance with box b the medical device likewisesimultaneously records movement-related measured data, which aretemporally highly resolved and can be interpolated with regard tomovement operations, as image data or data of optical and/or electricalsensors, for example of a position sensor that detects the respiratorymovement in one dimension. In this case, the nuclear medicine measureddata are, for example, PET measured data, while the movement-relatedmeasured data can be data from magnetic resonance tomography, computedtomography, ultrasound data or data of optical or electrical and othersensor elements, it also being possible, if appropriate, to use acombination of different methods for recording the movement-relatedmeasured data which are, for example, temporally highly resolved.

Subsequently, for example, at specific time intervals while the measureddata is still being recorded, in accordance with box c at least one itemof movement information relating to at least one movement operation ofthe patient and/or in the body of the patient is determined byevaluating at least a portion of the recorded movement-related measureddata with regard to their high temporal resolution or by interpolationon the part of a computing device of the imaging medical device. If thetime resolution of the movement detection is not sufficiently high, itis possible to interpolate between two movement detections.

In accordance with box d, this one item, or this number of items, ofmovement information then serve the purpose of adapting at least oneitem of attenuation correction information, which is available to thecomputing device and serves for reconstructing the nuclear medicinemeasured data, as a function of the at least one determined item ofmovement information.

Thereafter, or in parallel therewith, the measured data can continue tobe recorded, as is indicated by the arrows leading from box d to boxes aand b.

Thus, with the aid of an embodiment of the inventive method, themovement information determined in accordance with box c from themovement-related data is applied to the data of the attenuationcorrection in order to adapt at least the movable components of acorresponding attenuation correction map or in general an item ofattenuation correction information that is subject to movementinfluences, and thus to correct the data, if appropriate as a functionof the recorded movement operations of the patient, that is to say, forexample, of the movement of the limbs, of the body or of movementoperations in the body such as breathing and the like, or of deviceparts associated with the patient's movement.

During an adaptation on an attenuation correction map, the correction isexpediently performed for the movable parts of the attenuationcorrection map, the static components identified as such remainingunchanged. This classification can be determined once with the aid ofthe movement information from the pictures, with the result that thestatic parts are no longer taken into account for the adaptation infuture. Furthermore specific stationary or static elements can bedefined from the start for the (imaging) medical device, for example apatient table that is always brought into an identical position forrecording operation, cladding parts and the like.

FIG. 2 shows an inventive imaging medical device 1 that has a tomograph2 in the case illustrated for recording magnetic resonance data and PETmeasured data. In other example embodiments, other image recordingmethods such as, for example, computed tomography or ultrasound methods,can be used. Likewise, other nuclear medicine recording methods can beprovided. Furthermore, the movement operations can be tracked with theaid of sensor elements such as optical or electrical sensors.

In the tomograph 2 provided here in the exemplary embodiment, a patientcouch 3 is present on which a patient 4 is located for recordingmeasured data.

Furthermore, the imaging medical device 1 has a computing device 5having an assigned display screen 6 with an input apparatus in the formof a keyboard. The tomograph 2 is used to record simultaneouslytemporally highly resolved magnetic resonance data and nuclear medicinePET measured data. From the temporally highly resolved magneticresonance data, the computing device 5 connected to the tomograph 2 viaa data connection determines movement information that it ultimatelyuses for the purpose of suitably adapting an attenuation correction mapfor the PET data.

In this example embodiment, this adaptation is carried out here suchthat static and movable components of the imaging medical device 1 areseparated from one another in an initially present attenuationcorrection map. The static components in this case relate to suchcomponents as are to be ascribed to the absorption by fixed (immovable)device elements. In the example shown, these are the patient couch 3already brought into position for the recording, and a fixed local coil8 (illustrated here only diagrammatically). Depending on recordingregion, a movable component is, by contrast, to be ascribed, forexample, to the patient fixing 7, which: moves with the patient 4.

The movable components of the attenuation correction map are nowcorrected with the aid of the movement information recordedsimultaneously with the nuclear medicine data, an improvement in theimage quality of the nuclear medicine image data being achieved,particularly in the case where strong movement operations are present.This movement correction of the attenuation correction map can becarried out repeatedly in the course of the measurement in the presenceof new movement information.

Finally, FIG. 3 shows a schematic sketch of an embodiment of aninventive adaptation of an attenuation correction map 9. The attenuationcorrection map 9, which is merely sketched here, shows, as indicated bythe different hatchings 10 a-10 f here, the spatial distribution of theabsorption behavior in the measured data recording range.

During the conduct of an embodiment of the inventive method, theattenuation correction map 9 is now divided into static components 11and movable components 12 of the appropriately separated attenuationcorrection map 13. To provide clarity, the static components 11 areillustrated in a fashion separated from the movable components 12 bylines 14. For the movable components 12, use is subsequently made of themovement information from the method of high temporal resolution inorder to obtain an adapted attenuation correction map 15 that is adaptedas regards the movable components to the current state of movement, thatis to say here shows different correction information in accordance withthe hatchings 16 a-16 d by comparison with the original hatchings 10 a,10 c, 10 e and 10 f of the movable components. The unchanged staticcomponent is no longer shown here, for reasons of clarity.

Consequently, the nuclear medicine image quality can be improved,particularly in the case where a strong movement is present, by using anattenuation correction map conforming to the current state, that is tosay the attenuation correction map 15, which is, if appropriate, adaptedrepeatedly during the data recording.

Further, elements and/or features of different example embodiments maybe combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within thescope of this disclosure and appended claims.

Still further, any one of the above-described and other example featuresof the present invention may be embodied in the form of an apparatus,method, system, computer program and computer program product. Forexample, of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in the form of asystem or device, including, but not limited to, any of the structurefor performing the methodology illustrated in the drawings.

Even further, any of the aforementioned methods may be embodied in theform of a program. The program may be stored on a computer readablemedia and is adapted to perform any one of the aforementioned methodswhen run on a computer device (a device including a processor). Thus,the storage medium or computer readable medium, is adapted to storeinformation and is adapted to interact with a data processing facilityor computer device to perform the method of any of the above mentionedembodiments.

The storage medium may be a built-in medium installed inside a computerdevice main body or a removable medium arranged so that it can beseparated from the computer device main body. Examples of the built-inmedium include, but are not limited to, rewriteable non-volatilememories, such as ROMs and flash memories, and hard disks. Examples ofthe removable medium include, but are not limited to, optical storagemedia such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magneto-optical storage media, such asMOs; magnetism storage media, including but not limited to floppy disks(trademark), cassette tapes, and removable hard disks; media with abuilt-in rewriteable non-volatile memory, including but not limited tomemory cards; and media with a built-in ROM, including but not limitedto ROM cassettes; etc. Furthermore, various information regarding storedimages, for example, property information, may be stored in any otherform, or it may be provided in other ways. Example embodiments beingthus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in manyways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from thespirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications aswould be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the following claims.

1. A method for recording measured data of a patient while taking account of movement operations by a medical device designed both for recording movement-related measured data with the aid of at least one of an imaging method and at least one sensor element, and also for recording nuclear medicine measured data, the method comprising: recording nuclear medicine measured data with the aid of the medical device; simultaneously recording movement-related measured data with the aid of the medical device; determining at least one item of movement information relating to at least one movement operation, at least one of of the patient and in the body of the patient, by evaluating by at least a portion of the recorded measured data of high temporal resolution on the part of a computing device of the medical device; and adapting at least one item of attenuation correction information available for the computing device and serving for reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data, doing so as a function of the at least one determined item of movement information.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one item of attenuation correction information forming a constituent of an attenuation correction map for a measured data recording range is adapted.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one initial item of attenuation correction information, in particular an initial attenuation correction map, is determined for later adaptation from already recorded pictures of movement-related measured data.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one item of attenuation correction information is adapted for a movement correction of the nuclear medicine measured data by using at least one imaging rule determined from the at least one item of movement information.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one item of attenuation correction information available to the computing device is classified as static or moving items of attenuation correction information.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein a subsequent adaptation is carried out by taking exclusive account of the items of attenuation correction information classified as moving.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least one of at least one item of attenuation correction information relating to absorption by at least one of a patient table, at least one cladding part and a stationary local coil of the medical device is classified as static attenuation correction information, and at least one item of attenuation correction information relating at least one of to the patient, to a flexible local coil for a magnetic resonance data recording and to a patient fixing is classified as a moving item of attenuation correction information.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one item of movement information relating to a relative movement of the patient in relation to a static component of the medical device is determined from the recorded measured data and is used to adapt the at least one item of attenuation correction information.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of at least one of at least one of magnetic resonance data, computed tomography data, ultrasound data and sensor data is recorded as at least one of movement-related measured data, and at least one of positron emission tomography data and single photon emission computed tomography data is recorded as temporally less well resolved nuclear medicine measured data.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in parallel with the measured data, recording a movement correction is performed in real time by the computing device for at least a portion of the nuclear medicine measured data as a function of the at least one determined item of movement information.
 11. A medical device, designed for recording movement-related measured data of a patient while simultaneously taking account of movement operations, with the aid of at least one of an imaging method and by way of at least one sensor element, and for recording nuclear medicine measured data, the medical device comprising: a computing device to determine at least one item of movement information relating to at least one movement operation, at least one of of the patient and in the body of the patient, by evaluating at least a portion of the recorded movement-related measured data, and designed to adapt at least one item of attenuation correction information available to the computing device and serve for reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data as a function of the at least one item of determined movement information.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one initial item of attenuation correction information is determined for later adaptation from already recorded pictures of movement-related measured data.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one initial item of attenuation correction information includes an initial attenuation correction map.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one initial item of attenuation correction information includes an initial attenuation correction map.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the at least one item of attenuation correction information is adapted for a movement correction of the nuclear medicine measured data by using at least one imaging rule determined from the at least one item of movement information.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the at least one item of attenuation correction information is adapted for a movement correction of the nuclear medicine measured data by using at least one imaging rule determined from the at least one item of movement information.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein all items of attenuation correction information of an attenuation correction map are classified accordingly for a measured data recording range.
 18. A medical device, designed for recording movement-related measured data of a patient while simultaneously taking account of movement operations, with the aid of at least one of an imaging method and by way of at least one sensor element, and for recording nuclear medicine measured data, the medical device comprising: means for recording nuclear medicine measured data with the aid of the medical device; means for simultaneously recording movement-related measured data with the aid of the medical device; means for determining at least one item of movement information relating to at least one movement operation, at least one of of the patient and in the body of the patient, by evaluating by at least a portion of the recorded measured data of high temporal resolution on the part of a computing device of the medical device; and means for adapting at least one item of attenuation correction information available for the computing device and serving for reconstructing the nuclear medicine measured data, doing so as a function of the at least one determined item of movement information.
 19. A computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed on a computer device, causing the computer device to implement the method of claim
 1. 